NEW YORK -- How does an American gun seller make a rifle that can’t be used by “Muslim terrorists?” Engrave it with a Bible verse and a symbol of the crusades. That’s the marketing shtick of Spike’s Tactical, a gun shop in Florida, which is peddling an AR-15 rifle inscribed with Psalm 144:1: “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
Reported by the Orlando Sentinel, the firearm also boasts three settings: Peace, War and God Wills It.
“I’d like to have a gun that if a Muslim terrorist picked it up a bolt of lightning would hit and knock him dead,” said Ben Thomas, a former Navy SEAL and a spokesman for the company. “We wanted to make sure we built a weapon that would never be able to be used by Muslim terrorists to kill innocent people or advance their radical agenda,” he added.
This is what happens when religion and militarism combine
According to Raw Story, America’s council on American-Islamic relations decried the weapon on Tuesday, asking whether it was designed for “Christian terrorists?”
“Sadly, this manufacturer’s fancy new gun won’t do anything to stop the real threat in America: the escalating problem of gun violence,” said Hasan Shibly, executive director of CAIR-Florida. “This is just another shameful marketing ploy intended to profit from the promotion of hatred, division, and violence.”
However, Thomas said the goal was not to “offend or alienate.”
“The difficult issues people have with each other need to be brought to the table,” he said. “Often these are hurtful and painful but it’s important to be honest.”